my dilema.....Focal Sopra N272/250DR/NAC A5

I am suggesting 2 power strips. One for everything else and one for the HiFi. The everything else block can be anything, and I would suggest it is surge protected because of the interference from those items - it can lower that for you. The other one should be the clean one for the Naim.

Frank.

Exactly what my dealer recommended last week when I ordered a new Naim system.

He suggested a Musicworks 6 way block for the Naim kit using a Power Line everthing else into a second 6 way block no need for anthing to pricy for the second block.

And I should have said Olson power block. Sorry. But any half decent block with protection will do.

Frank.

Are those sopras really boundary speakers? Maybe there's life after *BLs/SL2s afterall. 

Or are they just compromised.

greekspec2 posted:

finally figured how to post pictures, hews a few of my current dilemma with and without tweeter grills

Wow! Those Sopra 2s look fabulous in black.  I am though surprised at how close they appear to be to the rear wall.  Doesn't the bass get a bit too much positioned there?

Mike

Throw a sheet/blanket over the TV screen.... Will improve your playback no end.

That large highly reflective surface will smear the soundstage and play havoc with the top-end.

(I had a similar set-up myself with Scala Utopia's.)

MDS posted:

greekspec2 posted:

finally figured how to post pictures, hews a few of my current dilemma with and without tweeter grills

Wow! Those Sopra 2s look fabulous in black.  I am though surprised at how close they appear to be to the rear wall.  Doesn't the bass get a bit too much positioned there?

Mike

my hands are tied on placement till I get back into a house, currently my ear to tweeter is 10ft and I have no room to move my speakers

greekspec2 posted:

MDS posted:

greekspec2 posted:

finally figured how to post pictures, hews a few of my current dilemma with and without tweeter grills

Wow! Those Sopra 2s look fabulous in black.  I am though surprised at how close they appear to be to the rear wall.  Doesn't the bass get a bit too much positioned there?

Mike

my hands are tied on placement till I get back into a house, currently my ear to tweeter is 10ft and I have no room to move my speakers

Fair enough. Most of us have to work within domestic constraints.  Hope the Sopras are pleasing you though.

Mike 

James L posted:

Throw a sheet/blanket over the TV screen.... Will improve your playback no end.

That large highly reflective surface will smear the soundstage and play havoc with the top-end.

(I had a similar set-up myself with Scala Utopia's.)

 

so I took your temporary advise and tossed a blanket over the TV, and plugged my pre and amp to its own wall socket with very minimal improvement

I have to ask...

Does your system boom? Do you get bass overhang?

Your hifi room looks really bare, the speakers pretty close to each other and to the front wall? Did you audition at home?

Don't spend any more money yet. Understand the problem before throwing money at it.

boom NO, overhang not really, now if I adjust my spikes to bring the plinth closer to the floor to me does the same as moving the speaker too and away from the wall, I understand I don't have the optimal setup but have to make due and my speakers have a 7ft width between each other which the damn closet door doesn't help being there

Awesome! Usually big speakers in small space have bass issues, especially when played loud. Looks like you have enough power.

So indeed, XPSdr seems like the logical next step. Personally I would "upgrade" the speaker cables to something a little more refined. Search the forum for recommendations.

But how are you gonna slot in another naim unit? Your TV console is already full!

kmchow98 posted:

Awesome! Usually big speakers in small space have bass issues, especially when played loud. Looks like you have enough power.

So indeed, XPSdr seems like the logical next step. Personally I would "upgrade" the speaker cables to something a little more refined. Search the forum for recommendations.

But how are you gonna slot in another naim unit? Your TV console is already full!

 

 

I have room on my stand

greekspec2 posted:

James L posted:

Throw a sheet/blanket over the TV screen.... Will improve your playback no end.

That large highly reflective surface will smear the soundstage and play havoc with the top-end.

(I had a similar set-up myself with Scala Utopia's.)

 

so I took your temporary advise and tossed a blanket over the TV, and plugged my pre and amp to its own wall socket with very minimal improvement

Good effort in trying. But very surprised no difference with a blanket over the screen.

The spill from the speakers has to go somewhere and with that screen, it's back out into the room.

When I had a similar set-up (w/ Focal Scala Utopias), I couldn't listen without a sheet over the screen. I couldn't tolerate the smear.

I've done some reading lately on room reflections that indicates the position of the TV shouldn't be much of an issue, except possibly for low frequencies. I know it sounds a bit counter-intuitive as you'd expect high frequency reflections off of the TV screen, but higher frequencies radiate forward from loudspeakers. There's a useful link  here  and embedded links that discuss other reflections within the room.

Since the parts of your room shown in the pics appear bare of soft material, consideration of room treatment might be beneficial and a cheaper alternative to gear upgrades. While I recognize your domestic constraints, the racking and position of the gear is less than optimal. Your gear is no doubt feeling a lot of bass energy where it sits, though some of this could be ameliorated using corner bass traps with your gear in its current position. I see a door in the left corner. Does opening that help the sound?

Im going to demo some super lumina speaker cables and probally pull the trigger on a XPS-DR

greekspec2 posted:

finally figured how to post pictures, hews a few of my current dilemma with and without tweeter grills

Love those Sopra2's......

James L posted:

Throw a sheet/blanket over the TV screen.... Will improve your playback no end.

That large highly reflective surface will smear the soundstage and play havoc with the top-end.

(I had a similar set-up myself with Scala Utopia's.)

 

I agree 100%.  In my case I threw a soft blanket over the TV.  it made a significant difference with three different models of Harbeth speakers.

As for the question of adding a PS to a 272 I agree that source matters and when I powered my 272 with a 555PS DR, there was no way I could go back.

My new 250 DR arrives tomorrow along w/new Dynaudio C1's.

Bud

Leatherneck posted:

James L posted:

Throw a sheet/blanket over the TV screen.... Will improve your playback no end.

That large highly reflective surface will smear the soundstage and play havoc with the top-end.

(I had a similar set-up myself with Scala Utopia's.)

 

I agree 100%.  In my case I threw a soft blanket over the TV.  it made a significant difference with three different models of Harbeth speakers.

As for the question of adding a PS to a 272 I agree that source matters and when I powered my 272 with a 555PS DR, there was no way I could go back.

My new 250 DR arrives tomorrow along w/new Dynaudio C1's.

Bud

Is the 250 good enough to drive the C1s? I've considered that pairing but have not heard good things... 

lajlaj posted:

Leatherneck posted:

James L posted:

Throw a sheet/blanket over the TV screen.... Will improve your playback no end.

That large highly reflective surface will smear the soundstage and play havoc with the top-end.

(I had a similar set-up myself with Scala Utopia's.)

 

I agree 100%.  In my case I threw a soft blanket over the TV.  it made a significant difference with three different models of Harbeth speakers.

As for the question of adding a PS to a 272 I agree that source matters and when I powered my 272 with a 555PS DR, there was no way I could go back.

My new 250 DR arrives tomorrow along w/new Dynaudio C1's.

Bud

Is the 250 good enough to drive the C1s? I've considered that pairing but have not heard good things... 

I just got the 250 DR and it's still in the box, so are the C1's.

I don't know how the combo is going to work but it had better be OK.

I had intended to just get some Harbeth P3ESR's with an entry level Naim amp but got talked into the 250/C1 combo.

Bud

I certainly hope the 250DR can drive the C1.

I've heard good things about that model. But 85db sensitivity with a 4 ohm load is tough on naim power amps.

The 250 DR can handle 2 ohm loads.  

The 250 DR was recommended by my Naim dealer who also recommended and sold me the C1's.

I hope to have everything put together tomorrow.  The Stand 6's from Dynaudio are impressive and the C1's are gorgeous.   

Bud

The speaker impedance given is only an approximate impedance. Depending on speaker and cross over design the impedance can actually vary significantly across the frequency band irrespective of the stated speaker 'impedance'.

This is where the regulated amps (NAP 250 and higher) come into their own as they help the amp maintain a more consistent performance across the sometimes significantly varying impedance of the speaker load at various frequencies.

A statement above suggests that the 250 is quite happy with the load dipping down to 2 ohms, I suspect the 250 could go even lower... However one may find at these impedance troughs that the length and type  of speaker cable comes into play with respect to the performance at those specific frequencies...

kmchow98 posted:

I certainly hope the 250DR can drive the C1.

I've heard good things about that model. But 85db sensitivity with a 4 ohm load is tough on naim power amps.

I've assembled the Dynaudio Stand 6's and have the new 250DR and C1'a installed and cabled up.  The results were disappointing.  It sounded like music in a cave.  After I threw a blanket over the TV, things changed to the point where the hollow sound went away, the sound stage had more depth and the overall results are very good.  

I've had problems with this 55" TV with multiple speakers driven by both Naim and Bryston amps and it simply doesn't work without covering it up.

It's not a problem tossing a small blanket over the TV when I want to have a serious listening session.  I can also continue to listen with headphones witch have less depth but more detail.

BTW, the 250 DR works very well and can drive the C1's to a much higher level than I prefer.  

Bud

So I ended up with a 3 meter pair of Super Lumina cables for a go